Multiple-writing machine



F. A. JOHNSON.

MULTIPLE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, 1919.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922..

H SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. A. JOHNSON.

MULTIPLE WRITING I/IACHIIIE1 APFLICAIION FILED SEPT. 30, 19:9.

1,428,331 PatentedSept. 5, 1922.

II SHEETSSHEET 2.

F. A. JOHNSON.

MULTIPLE WRITlNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30. mm.

1,428, 33 1. Patented Sept. 5, 1922,

II SHEETS-SHEET 3.

F. A. JOHNSON.

MULTIPLE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, x910.

1,428, 3 3 1. Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

ll SHEILTS SHEH 4.

F-A. JOHNSON.

MULTIPLE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, 1919.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

l I SHEETSSHEET 5.

inanimv F. A. JOHNSON.

MULTIPLE WRITING MACHINE.

v APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, 1919. 1,428,331

s U I H F. A. JOHNSON.

MULTIPLE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION men SEPT. 30, 1919.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

ll SHEETS-SHEET 7.

F. A. JOHNSON,

MULTIPLE WR'ITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, 1919.

1,428,381. I PatentedSept.5,1922.

I l SHEETSSHEET 8.

F. A. JOHNSON.

MULTIPLE WRIHNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30. 1919.

1 A28, 3 3 1 P t nt d Sept. 5, 1922.,

' 11 SHEETSSHEET 9. I (/6 H 9 mlmf V F. A. JOHNSON.

ULI'IPLE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION min SEPT 30, 1919.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

' II SHEEIE-SHEU 0.

F. A. JOHNSON.

MULTIPLE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, I9I9.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

I I SHEETS-SHEET I I.

"Inn/11 Patented Sept. 5, 19322.

FRANK AMOS JOHNSON, OF NEW HAVEN,

CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR '10 SIGNATURE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MULTIPLE-WRITING MACHINE.

Application filed September 30, 1919. Serial No. 327,469.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK AMos JointsoN, a citizen of the United States,and mmdent of New Haven, county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Multiple-\VritingMachines, of which the following is a specification This inventionrelates to multiple writing of parts in a machine of this character,-

whereby the documents, such for example as checks may be taken fromdifferent stacks or sources, arranged in predetermined groups, fed intoposition'to be written upon, and finally conveyed from the writing pensto be restacked or grouped in any desired arrangement which is usuallythe same as that from which they were segregated and formed intopredetermined groups'for being written upon. One of the objects of thepresent invention is to provide improved means for feeding checks from aplurality of stacks and arranging them in groups to correspond to thegroup arrangement of the pens by which they are to be written upon.Another object is toprovide improved means for correlating thecheck-feeding and checkstacking operations with the operation 'of thepen group. Other and more specific objects of invention will appear inthe specification and be pointed out in the claims, referene being badto the accompanying drawings which exemplify my invention and in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevationof a machine embodying the principles of thepresent invention; I

Figure 2is a plan view of the same in reverse position to that shown inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is. an end'elevation of the same, taken from the rightaccording to Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side elevation of the'machiiiecorresponding to theleft end of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the upper righthand portion of Figure 1, with the cover plate re-' moved Figure 6 is asectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, on the line 6-6, Figure-3Figure 7 is a sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, on the line7-7, Figure 3;

Figure 8 .is a sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, on the line88, Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a sectional elevation on an enlarged scale, on the, line B-8, Figure 8;

Figure 9 is a sectional elevation of the carriage, on an enlarged scale,on the line 9-9, Figure 2;

Figures 10 and11 are sectional elevations similar to Figure 9, with thegrippers in changed positions;

Figure 12 is a sectional elevation, according to the line 12-12, Figure2, showing the receiving or stacking mechanism on an enlarged scale;

Figure 13 is a longitudinal sectional elevationof a stacking device forchecks which are too thin to be handled in the usual Figure 14 isafragmentary top plan view of the stacking box;

Figure 15 is a similar top plan view show-'- ing parts in changedpositions.

According to the embodiment of my invention shown on the drawings, themain frame of the machine, as shown in Figure 1, includes three pairs ofuprights 1, 2, and 3. Throughout the following description, the frontend of the machine will be taken as that toward which the documents movein theirpassage through the machine. Said documents will therefore beconsidered as entering the machine at the rear end. The right side willtherefore be considered that on the observers right as he faces forward,the left side being toward his left hand as he faces forward.Surmounting the rear-- uprights 1, are left and right side frames 4 and5, the forward ends of said side frames being connected by left andright side bars 6 and 7 (see Figures 1,4, and 8) to the rear end of themain bed plate 8 which surmounts the paired uprights 2 and 3. As shownin Figures, a crank 9 provided with a hand grip 10, is journalled uponastud 11 which is mounted in the side frame 5. Also journalled on thestud 1 1 and adapted to be rotated by'the crank 9, is a pinion 12 whichmeshes with a spur gear 13, said spur is journalled in the side frames41 and 5. Secured to the left end of cam shaft 1% and arranged outsidethe side frame a, is an eccentric whichhas running contact with a camlever 16. The cam lever 16 oscillates upon a pin 17 and carries a pin 18upon which is mounted a pawl 19 provided. with a hand grip 20 by meansof which said pawl may be thrown into and out of engagement with a rack21 which is reci roca bly mounted on the side frame at. for yieldablyholding pawl 19 in engageinent with rack 21, are provided by a spring 22which has one end connected to the pawl 19 and its other end attached toa flange on the side frame t. A dog 23 provided with a hand grip 24 ispivotally mounted on a stud 25 and acted upon by a spring 26 for holdingit in en agement with rack 21. Pivotally connected at 27 to the forwardend of the rack bar 21, is a cam bar 28 which may be held at a suitableinclination to the horizontal by means of a link 29 which is pivotallconnected at 30 to the rear end of com ar 28. it slot 31 in the lowerend of link 29,- pe'rmits a vertical adjustment of cam bar 28. The cam.bar is held in any'desired position by means of a thumb nut 32 whichclams the link 29 tothe ratchet bar 21. rack bar 33 has a roundedlowerend 3% which is adapted to bear on the inclined cam bar 28. The cambar'33 meshes with a spur pinion 35 keyed to a shaft 36, and

serves only to tranit, power to said shaft 36. Near opposite ends ofsaid shaft, are

attached to a table or platen t0 so that as v the cam bar 28, shown inFigure 5, is moved forward, the table or platen 40 is gradually elevatedfor apurpose to be hereinafter explained. As shown in Figure 3, theplaten or tabledOis in the present embodiment of my invention, providedwith a plurality of,

longitudinal partitions All, said partitions being adaptedto providesuitable compartments for piles or stacks of checks or other documentswhich may-he arranged in said compartments in any .des' ed order...Referring now to Figures 3 o 7 inclusive, a rock shaft 42. which is.journalled in the reariends of-side frames 4 and 5. has keyed thereto alower cam arm 43 and an upper cam arm tt-which are controlled by cams45-and 46 respectively which are keyed to the camshaft 14; Menu upon therock shaft 42 arelatera'lly spaced lever arms 47 f and 4:8 within theupper ends of which is journalled a. secondary rock shait t9 which i sadapted torock on its c axis while said axis being moved to. and fro ina 1 cans A tort operating anteater direction longitudinal to the feed.According to the present embodiment of my invention, five reciprocatorybucklers are pivotally-mounted upon the secondary rock shaft 49, thelateral disposition of said grippers corresponding to the compartmentswhich contain the checks or other documents C. The forward ends of thebucklers 50 are provided with weights 51, said weights being adjustablealong the bucklers 50 and held by set screws 52 in any positions towhich they ma be adjusted. The downwardly deflectc end of each of saidbucklers 50 is provided with afriction pad '53 for adapting it todisplace a check or document from the top of the pile or stack. Adjacentopposite sides of the machine are a pair of levers 54 which are keyed tothe secondary rock shaft 49 and carry in their forward ends a bar 55which is adapted to engage the under'edgcs of the bucklers 50 forlifting them from the documents at certain times in thefeedingoperation. Projecting rearwardly from the rock shaft 49 and keyedthereto is a lever arm 56 which is pi'votally connected at 57 to theupper end ofa connectin rod 58. Said rod 58 is provided with a s ot 59in its lower end through which projects a stud 60, carried by the rear.

wardly; projecting arm of a cam lever 61 which oscillates about the'axisof rock shaft 42. This construction permits the rock shaft 49 to beturned sufliciently to raise all the arms or bucklers 50 out of the way,for introducing the checks G into the machine. ca'plp g2, 1

, e e'rring more esecial to Fi rest and 7, 'acam 63, ich i: keyed l othe cam shaft Moperatesupon one end of a cam lever 64 which is pivotedon a stud 65 and provided with a spring 66 which holds the camlever inrunning engagement with the cam 63.. 'The forward end of the cam leverea isconnected by a link 67 with a reciprocable slide 68 provided at itsupper The cam lever 61 r is moved vby a end with a rack 69 which mesheswith a spur pinion 70, said spur pinion being keyed to a transverseshaft 71 which carries a plurality of movable stops 72 which areperiodically moved into and out of the position shown in Figure 6' inwhich they hold the forward edges of the checks or documents C whilethey are being buckled in the manner indicated in Figure 6. After eachgroup of five checks or documents has been thus buckled and before theirrear edges are released by the bucklers 50,'the upward movement of theslides 68 serves to move the stops 72. to release position in whichtheir forward edges are caused to have been thus described. As shown infull lines in Figure 3 and in-dotted lines in Figure 4, a bracket orhanger 73 carries a stud 74 on which is pivotally mounted a cam lever75, said cam lever being provided with a cam roller 76 which travels ina profile cam slot 77 formed on the inner surface of gear 13. Cam lever75 isconnected by a link 78 to the rear end of a rack bar 79 which, asshown in Figure 8, is reciprocably mounted on a guide bar 80. Thereciprocable carriage upon which are mounted the document ippers,comprises a spur gear 81 which is keyed to a, shaft 82, said shaft 82having also keyed thereto oppositely arranged spur gears 83, 83 whichmesh with fixed racks 84, 84. The shaft 82 is journalled within a,tubular bar 85 which is rigidly connected to a tubular bar 86 by meansof "side frames 87. Said car riage is supported independently of thegears and racks by means of rolls 88, 88 journalled on opposite ends ofshaft 82- and on opposite ends of tubular bar 86. Said rolls 88 run ontracks 89, 89. In the present embodiment of my invention, five documentgrippers are mounted on the carriage and arranged to correspond to therelative positions of the piles or stacks from which the documents areto be fed off. Each of said grippers includes a plate 90 supported bythe tubular rods 85 and 86, said plate being provided with a downwardlypresented jaw 91. N movable gripper jaw 92 is formed by the deflectedlower end of a bar 93 Which'is movably connected to the plate 90 by alink 94 and one arm of a lever 95. Said lever 95i's fulcrumed at 96 uponan upwardly projecting portion of the plate 90. A spring 97 tends toretain the movable gripper jaw in close contact with the fixed gripperjaw. Journalled in the carriage side bars 87, 87, is a rock shaft 98which extends through the plates 90. Secured tos aid rock shaft arelever arms 99 which are respectively provided with pins 100 adapted toengage cam surfaces 101 formed on levers 95. Depending from the rockshaft 98 is an arm 102 which is adapted w rock said shaft by having itstravelling movement with the carriage intercepted. by fixed and movablestops. of the fixed-stops is disposed at 103 adjacent the rear end,ofthe carriage movement while a' second fixed stop 104 is disposedadjacent the end of the longer forward movement of said carriage.Interposed between these fixed stops, is a movable stop (see Figures 1'and 5) which is pivotally connected at 106 to one arm of a camlever 107which is fulcrumed on a stud 108 in the side frame 4. A cam 109' (seeFigure 3) is provided with suitable connections for operating cam lever107. In or documents. therebetween. Each As shown in Figures 2 and 8,one

of'the feeding action 'of the carriage, suitable means are provided foreach gripper to indicate whether -more or less than one check is beingfed off by that grip er. For this purpose, in the present embo iment ofmy invention, a cross bar 110 is mounted upon laterally spaced links 111to be moved into and out of operative position on studs 112. Mounted onthe cross bar'110, are a plurality of lamps 113, one terminal of each-ofsaid lamps being connected by a wire 114 ,to one-pole of a battery 115.The other terminal of each lamp is electrically connected to a springbar 116 which projects forwardly from the cross ;'bar 110. The springbars 116 are adapted to yieldably engage contacts 117 which extendthrough the blocks 118 carried by the plates 90 of the respectivegrippers (see -Figures 8 9, 10 and 11). Each of the blocks 118 carrieson its opposite face, a conducting yoke 119 which is provided with anupper contact 120' and a lower contact 121, said contacts preferablybeing adjustable toward and away from each other. Arranged between thecontacts 120 and 121 is a spring contact 122 which projects rearwardlyfrom the cam lever 95. A wire 123 .connects the spring contact 122 tothe other pole of 'ba-tter'y115 so that wheneverthe spring contact 122is moved into engagement with either of. the contacts 120 and 121 whilethe carriage is in its rearmost position, an energizing circuit iscompleted which includes lamp "113, wire 114, battery 115, wire 123,spring contact 122, contact 120 (or 121), yoke'119, contact 117, and

band 116. Referring now to Figures 1,2 and 12, a plurality of endlessbelts or chains 124 are laterally spaced on the machine to correspond tothe reciprocable grippers or carriages. As shown'in Figure 12, each ofthe endless chains 124, is provided with lugs or pushers 125'which'arespaced longitudinally of the chain a distance sufiicient to accommodatesuccessive of said endless chains 124 runs about a rear sprocket 126 anda forward sprocket 127. The forward sprockets .127 are keyed to a commonshaft 128, the left end ofsaid shaft being provided with a pinion 129which meshes with a gear 130 on a stub shaft 131 which carries a crank132. The

top surface of themain bed plate 133 of the machine is preferably madeto extend from near the forward. edge of the platen or table 40 uponwhich the stacks of documents are disposed. Near the end ,of the machineand above the; main bedplate, are

"arranged, in the present embodiment of my- .invention, a group ofpens134 which are carried by a common ,frame 135. Connected to the framel35,-isa monitor handle 136 by means of which the multiple writinginstruments 134 are actuated. Leading from the forward end of the mainbed plate133, is an inner guide or plate 137 and spaced outwardlytherefrom, 'a plurality of guide fingers 138. This construction providesdownwardly presented chutes through which the documents from themultiple writing mechanism, are discharged into pockets or receptaclesformed as shown in Figures 1 and 12. A recep-i tacle for receiving thedocuments thus discharged, comprises a front wall 139, bottom wall 140and partitions'and end walls 141, said receptacle being mounted on theforward uprights of the machine'by means of bracket arms 142. In themodification shown in Figures 13, 14 and 15. a packing device is shownfor handling checks made of verythin paper. For this purpose, thepartitions 141 are arranged to provide "compartments of less width thanthe checks as'shown in the enlarged scale views, Figures 14 and 15. Theupper edges of partitions 141 are made of less thickness to form ledgesor shoulders 155 upon which the lateral edges of the checks becomelodged until they are pressed down on to the packs "as shown in. F1 ure15. For thispurpose,

a pusher crossead 143 is connected by a I buckled. Briefly stated, theoperation of my improved machjine, according to the embodiment shown 'onthe drawings is as follows.

For example, single checks arranged in five stacks or piles upon theplaten or feed table 40 are to be arranged in double, transverse rowsbeneath the writing pens 134,

.said checks are then to be signed an oflicial who manipulates themonitor handle 136and said checks are then to be stacked within thereceptacles at the end of the machine in the same order in which theywere taken from the stacks at the feeding-in end of said machine. Asshown in Figure 4, the cam slot 77 comprises a, rearwardly pre- 'sentedportion located relatively near to the cam shaft 14, upper and lowerportions whichare near the periphery of the cam and a forwardlyextending portion which is intermediate in distance between the firstmentioned portion and said peripheral portions ofthe cam slot. a

Asthe crank 76WhenJ-in'the position shown in Figure 4-, ill correspondto the reciprocating car pa e or gripper in its forward positionfesi 9is turned, the cam roller mas er shown in Figure 1. Prior to the partsassuming these relative positions, the bucklers 50 have buckled the topchecks of the several piles in the manner shown in Figure 6,

the movable stops 72 being disposed in suit- 76 able position to holdthe forward ed es of the checks against displacement. As t ereciprocating carriage or grippers reach their rear-most position, themovable steps 72 are swung into their lowered positions shown 76 inFigure 7 which releases the forward edges of the top checks so that asthe buckled checks flatten themselves, their forward edges are extendedbetween the gripper jaws which at that time are held in open position 8tby reason of the pendulum 102 having thrown the caml lever 99 under thecam lever at the forward end of the preceding stroke. During the returnstroke of the carriage or grippers, said pendulum 102 85 comes intoengagement with a fixed stop'103, and it is moved into the positionshown in Figure 7, permitting springs 97 to close the several grippers.If there is a failure in any one of said grippers to grip a cheek an (asshown in Figure 10), the spring contact 122 is thrown into engagementwith the lowercontact 121 and the lamp 113 becomes illumined. If, asshown in Figure 11, more than one check has been gripped by the jaws 5of the gripper, the spring switch 122 will be held in engagement withthe upper contact 120, the lamp 113 being likewise energized. Noticingthe lamp or lamps, the

operator, by examining the particular gripwe per or grippers, will seewhether there is no check present or two or more checks present withineach of the grippers. It will be understood from Figure 8 that gear 81is'of less pitch diameter than gears 83, 83 so that 5 the reciprocatorymovements of the rack 79, are multiplied in the travel of the carriage.1f the machine is operated by turning the crank 9 in a clockwisedirection, according to Figure 4,. the cam'77 revolves in the di- 11drection of the arrow. By noticing the form of cam 77, it will be seenthat cam arm 75 has moved the carriage to its extreme forward positionin which the forward fixed stop 104 operates to release a groupof 1'15checks. The carriage is then returned to its rearmost position shown inFigure 7 to, receive another group of checks. The cam arm is next movedinto aiposition intermediate to its extreme forward and rear Ipositions, thus bringing the carriage forward to a position in which themovable intermediate stop 105 operates the grippers to release asecondgroup of checks in the rear of the firstv mentioned group. AS125 shownin Figure 6, a' cam lever 151 which is .fulcrumed at 152, is operated bycam 45,

saidcam lever being rovided with a finger or dog153 whichisa apted tolock the endless chains or belts; 124 during those pemods gae ofdocuments,

in which the checks are being positioned. As soon as the checks are thusarranged in order, the endless chains or belts are released so as topermit them being moved into position under the multiple writinginstrumentalities. According to the present embodiment of my invention,this operation is preferably performed by a secon operator who turns thecrank 132. A further movement of said endless chains or belts 124, afterthe checks have adapted to discharge said checks into the severalcompartments of the packing box wherein they are arranged in the sameorder in which they were withdrawn from the feed table l-(l. I

I claim:

1. In. a machine of the character described, the combination with meansfor supporting a plurality of piles of documents, and means operating onsaid piles for separating doc-uinents therefrom and arranging successivedocuments of each pile in different positions with respect to said pile.

In a machine of the character described, means for supporting documentsin'bul-k, means movable towards and away from said supporting means forgripping the documents one by one. said grip-ping'means havingsuccessive periods of travel of difierent lengths, for arranging thedocuments in a predetermined group arrangement.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination with meansfor supporting a plurality of piles of documents, of a carriage havingsuccessive periods of travel of different lengths, grippers mounted onsaid carriage and operating on documents in the several piles, and meansfor opening said grippers at the ends of their travelling periods forarranging said documents in successive groups at different distancesfrom said document supporting means.

4. In a machine of the character described.

' means for supporting a plurality of piles of documents, a carriagemovable towards and away from said document supporting means, means forimparting successive movements of different extents to said carriagegrippers mounted on said carriage to correspond respectively to saidpiles. and means for opening and closing said grippers. 1

5. In a machine of the character described,

means for supporting a plurality of pilesv of documents, a .reclprocablecarriage, grip- )ers mounted on said carriage and operating respectivelyon said piles, stops arranged adjacent the o posite extreme positions ofsaid carriage or operating said grippers, and a stop interposed betweenthe first mentioned stops for operating said grippers in termediately ofthe other stops.

, 6. In a machine of the character described, means for supporting aplurality of piles a reciprocable carriage, gripbeen signed, 1s

pers mounted on said carriage and operating respectively on said piles,stops arranged adjacent the opposite extreme positions of said carriagefor operating said grippers, and a stop interposed between the firstmentloned stops for operating said grippers intermediately of the otherstops, said interposed stop being provided with automatica ly operatedmeans for moving it into and out of operative position.

7. In a, machine of the character described, the combination with meansfor supporting a pile of documents, of means operating on sald ile formoving successive there rom and depositing them in prearranged positionsdistant from said pile, and other means for conveying said documents asa roup from their deposited positions.

8. n a machine of the character described, the combination with asupport for holding a pile of documents to be fed off, a reciprocatorycarriage, an oscillatory cam lever conneoted to said carriage, a rotarycam for operating said cam-lever, said cam being adapted to' impartsuccessive throws of different extent'to said cam lever, a grippermounted on said carriage, means for closing said gripper adjacent therear end of each carriage movement, and opening the same adjacent theforward end of each movement.

9. In a machine of the character described, the document separatingmeans comprising a reciprocable gripper movable into and out of positionto grip the forwardly presented edge of the top document of a pile,means for blocking the movement of the forward edge of the top document,means for buckling said top document, said blocking means being movableto a position to permit the forward edge of the top document to bepresented to the gripper and means for opening said gripper at one endof its recipro-' c-atory movement for releasing a sheet which has beenretracted from the pile and closing said gripper at the other end of itsreciprocatory movement for gripping the forward edge of said topdocument. I

10. In a machine of the character described, document separating meanscomprising a gripper movable into and out of position to grip theforwardly presented edge of the to document of a pile, a stop movableinto t e path of the forward edge of the top document, means forbuckling said top doc.ument,'means for moving said stop to permit theforward edge of the top document to be presented to the gripper, and

means for closing said gripper, said buckling means comprising a primaryrock'shaft, leverarms carried b said shaft, a secondary rock shaftjournal ed in said lever arms, oscillatory bucklers coaxially mountedwith said secondary rock shaft, a cam lever keyed to said primary rookshaft, levers keyed to said secondary rock shaft, a connecting rodextending between said lever on the primary rock shaft and one of thelevers on the secondary rock shaft, and a rod carried by the levers onsaid secondary rock shaft for movably engaging said bucklers.

11. In a machine of the character de-' scribed, means for holding a pileof sheets to be fed oll, track bars extending from said pile holdingmeans, a carriage travelling on said track bars, a fixed rack, a gearournalled on said carriage and meshing with said rack, a movable rackhaving geared connections with the first mentioned gear,

a gripper on said carriage for retracting sheets from said pile, andmeans for reciprocating said movable rack for propelling connectionswith the first mentioned gear,-

a gripper on said carriage for retracting sheets from said pile, andmeans for recip-' rocating said movable rack for propelling saidcarriage towards and away from said pile said gripper comprisingrelatively movwable jaws provided with means for opening and closingsaid jaws by the movement of as said carriage.

13. In a machine of the character described, means for holding a pile ofsheets to be fed 0d, a carriage reciprocable towards and away from saidpile holding means, and a gripper mounted on said carriage, said gripperincluding relatively movable jaws, means for opening and closing saidjaws at opposite ends of the travel of said carriage, and means movableinto and out of the path of said carriage for opening said jawsintermediately of the extreme positions of said carriage.

14:. In a machine of the character described, means for holding a pileof sheets to be fed oil, a carriage reci rocable towards and away fromsaid pile ho ding means, and

a gripper mounted on said carriage, said gripper including relativelymovable jaws, means for opening and closing said jaws at opposite endsof the travel of said carriage, and means for opening said jawsintermediately of the ends of travel of said carriage.

- 15. In a machine of the character described, means for holding a pileof sheets, a reciprocable carriage, a gripper comprising relativelymovable jaws, a lever for opening and closing said jaws forpredetermined positions of said carriage, means for engaging said leverfor opening and closing said jaws at opposite ends of the travel ofsaidcarriage, and means movable into and out of position to open saidjaws at an intermediate position of said carriage.

1F, AMUS JQHNSON.

